2008 report of the water allocation study of the NC Environmental Review Commission. - Page 46

42 ﻿ Recommendations
consultants, to develop best practices
for risk management and measurement
of water use and water efficiency. Risk
management decisions should be left to local
water systems. However, the risks should
be disclosed to the public and the DWR.
Water use and efficiency standards should
be broadly disseminated and have statewide
or regional consistency.
LWSPs will begin to achieve their
real potential when they are treated as
integrated water resources management
( IWRM) plans, including supply side
planning and demand side planning. Plans
should prompt systems ( and groups of
systems) to consider meeting water supply
needs through additional sources ( potable,
reclaimed, gray water, rainwater) while also
reducing demand ( increased efficiency).
North Carolina should be evolving toward
IWRMs in which wastewater capacity is
also incorporated into the planning universe.
The Water Allocation Study team sees the
planning efforts needed in the overallocated
basins as the place to begin experimentation
with IWRMs.
6. Address critical research and study needs
The following are critical research and study
needs that the Water Allocation Study team
believes should be funded and undertaken
simultaneously with the legislative changes
proposed in this report.
6.1 What are the limits for groundwater
withdrawal, especially in hard- rock settings
( Piedmont and mountains)? How do large
groundwater withdrawals affect nearby wells and
surface flows, particularly in overallocated basins?
6.2 How do we adjust DWR’s hydrologic models
to predict shortages and account for future flow
variability?
6.3 Could the entire southern Atlantic coast,
including the states of Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Georgia, work on water allocation in a
more coordinated way?
6.4 How well does reclaimed water work with
turfgrass varieties and other major landscaping
needs?
6.5 How exactly should the state implement the
instream flow goal agreed to pursuant to the above
recommendations?
Improve our supply
Ensure that water infrastructure is maintained
How do you value irreplaceable water
supplies and water assets like Durham’s
Lake Michie ( built in the 1920s), Falls
Lake ( built by the US Army Corps of
Engineers in the 1970s), or expansion
of Wilson’s Buckhorn Reservoir in the
1990s? These assets have appreciated, not
depreciated, in value. But the distribution
and treatment systems that make these
assets more and more valuable do wear
out and need replacing. Without a source
of focus on this infrastructure problem,
though, most citizens ( and the governing
boards of many water systems) wait until
there is catastrophic failure, hoping that
someone else ( state or federal taxpayers) will
step in and pay to help fix the problems.
Meanwhile, rates for many systems are set
to be as low as possible, certainly lower
than those of the neighboring jurisdictions,
producing a “ race for the bottom” in
operation and maintenance of water
( including wastewater and stormwater)
infrastructure.

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42 ﻿ Recommendations
consultants, to develop best practices
for risk management and measurement
of water use and water efficiency. Risk
management decisions should be left to local
water systems. However, the risks should
be disclosed to the public and the DWR.
Water use and efficiency standards should
be broadly disseminated and have statewide
or regional consistency.
LWSPs will begin to achieve their
real potential when they are treated as
integrated water resources management
( IWRM) plans, including supply side
planning and demand side planning. Plans
should prompt systems ( and groups of
systems) to consider meeting water supply
needs through additional sources ( potable,
reclaimed, gray water, rainwater) while also
reducing demand ( increased efficiency).
North Carolina should be evolving toward
IWRMs in which wastewater capacity is
also incorporated into the planning universe.
The Water Allocation Study team sees the
planning efforts needed in the overallocated
basins as the place to begin experimentation
with IWRMs.
6. Address critical research and study needs
The following are critical research and study
needs that the Water Allocation Study team
believes should be funded and undertaken
simultaneously with the legislative changes
proposed in this report.
6.1 What are the limits for groundwater
withdrawal, especially in hard- rock settings
( Piedmont and mountains)? How do large
groundwater withdrawals affect nearby wells and
surface flows, particularly in overallocated basins?
6.2 How do we adjust DWR’s hydrologic models
to predict shortages and account for future flow
variability?
6.3 Could the entire southern Atlantic coast,
including the states of Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Georgia, work on water allocation in a
more coordinated way?
6.4 How well does reclaimed water work with
turfgrass varieties and other major landscaping
needs?
6.5 How exactly should the state implement the
instream flow goal agreed to pursuant to the above
recommendations?
Improve our supply
Ensure that water infrastructure is maintained
How do you value irreplaceable water
supplies and water assets like Durham’s
Lake Michie ( built in the 1920s), Falls
Lake ( built by the US Army Corps of
Engineers in the 1970s), or expansion
of Wilson’s Buckhorn Reservoir in the
1990s? These assets have appreciated, not
depreciated, in value. But the distribution
and treatment systems that make these
assets more and more valuable do wear
out and need replacing. Without a source
of focus on this infrastructure problem,
though, most citizens ( and the governing
boards of many water systems) wait until
there is catastrophic failure, hoping that
someone else ( state or federal taxpayers) will
step in and pay to help fix the problems.
Meanwhile, rates for many systems are set
to be as low as possible, certainly lower
than those of the neighboring jurisdictions,
producing a “ race for the bottom” in
operation and maintenance of water
( including wastewater and stormwater)
infrastructure.